Photo by Ashes Sitoula

It is now 2025, and among the numerous animals on the brink of extinction, none command quite as much urgency—or carry as much ecological importance—as the rhinoceros. Across Africa and Asia, these ancient creatures face unrelenting threats that have pushed some of their species to the brink of extinction. From organized poaching to habitat loss, rhinos are besieged on every front. According to the 2024 State of the Rhino report by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), there are fewer than 28,000 rhinos total left in the wild across all five existing species. The notion that rhinos might be the most critically endangered animals in the world today is not just a dire warning; it’s a call for action.

For those who care about preserving the incredible biodiversity of our planet—and for those who simply appreciate the raw magnificence of these gentle giants—now is the time to be raise awareness to their plight and aid in the efforts to save them.

Let’s explore each rhino species one by one, using the latest data from the 2024 State of the Rhino report. But first, let’s set the stage with a brief overview of why rhinos matter and how we arrived at this precarious juncture.

The Global Rhino Crisis: A Brief Overview

Rhinos have roamed our planet for over 40 million years, surviving ice ages, predatory pressures, and dramatic changes in climate. Their large size, distinctive horn, and remarkable tenacity have captured the human imagination for centuries. Yet in the last few decades, human activities—from organized poaching syndicates to rapid habitat destruction—have decimated rhino numbers.

The five remaining species and their conservation status

1. White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) – Near Threatened

2. Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis) – Critically Endangered

3. Greater One-horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) – Vulnerable

4. Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) – Critically Endangered

5. Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) – Critically Endangered

Collectively, these species total fewer than 28,000 animals in the wild. Poaching remains the single greatest threat, fueled largely by the black-market demand for rhino horn, which some buyers erroneously believe to have medicinal properties. The situation has grown so dire that a rhino is poached every 15 hours in Africa. Despite this grim reality, conservationists persist with innovative strategies and sheer determination, offering rays of hope in an otherwise dark landscape.

White Rhino

Near Threatened but Growing Again

Population and Status

• Estimated population (2024): 17,464
• Global Range: 11 African countries
• Threats: Poaching, habitat degradation, political instability

The white rhino is the most populous rhino species in the world today. Historically, this species made a remarkable comeback from fewer than 100 individuals at the start of the 20th century to over 21,000 by 2012. However, from 2012 to 2021, the white rhino population declined by an alarming 24%, largely because poachers focused on them due to their relatively larger numbers.

According to the latest findings in the 2024 State of the Rhino report, white rhinos have shown a modest but meaningful resurgence, with an additional 3.4% increase since 2023—bringing the total to 17,464. This improvement has been noted particularly in certain South African reserves, where ongoing dehorning strategies and the dismissal or arrest of corrupt park officials have helped mitigate losses. Still, poaching syndicates remain well-financed and adaptable, continuously challenging conservation efforts.

Conservation Highlights

• Dehorning Programs: Removing a rhino’s horn might seem extreme, but it significantly reduces the incentive for poachers, often saving the animal’s life.
• Anti-Corruption Initiatives: In places like Kruger National Park, authorities have started to root out corruption among staff, setting a benchmark for other parks worldwide.
• Reproductive Technologies: Efforts are underway to save the functionally extinct Northern White Rhino through in vitro fertilization and other advanced reproductive methods.

Black Rhino

Critically Endangered After Recent Decline

Population and Status

• Estimated population (2024): 6,421
• Global Range: 12 African countries
• Threats: Intense poaching pressure, habitat fragmentation

The black rhino has faced a turbulent history, with numbers plummeting from around 100,000 in the 1960s to a mere 2,300 in the mid-1990s. Decades of concerted conservation efforts managed to stabilize and even slowly increase the population, culminating in a nearly 28% overall increase in the past decade.

Yet the 2024 State of the Rhino report reveals that black rhino numbers dipped by 1% last year—the first recorded decline since 1995. The heaviest poaching occurred in Namibia and in South Africa’s Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park. Although a 1% decrease might not sound catastrophic, it serves as a critical reminder that the species can ill-afford any backslides.

Conservation Highlights

• Intense Protection and Monitoring: Anti-poaching teams and local community partnerships remain central to black rhino conservation.
• Habitat Expansion: Translocating black rhinos to safer, well-managed areas helps promote genetic diversity and population recovery.
• Community Engagement: Educating and empowering local communities through eco-tourism, employment, and awareness programs have proven beneficial in reducing poaching incentives.

Greater One-horned Rhino

A Vulnerable but Rising Success

Population and Status

• Estimated population (2024): 4,014
• Global Range: Primarily India and Nepal, occasional sightings in Bhutan
• Threats: Poaching, invasive plant species, climate change impacts

The greater one-horned rhino, also known as the Indian rhino, has been a resounding conservation success story. Once reduced to fewer than 100 animals a century ago, they now number roughly 4,014, representing a 20% increase over the past decade. This resurgence can be attributed to effective government protection, community-based conservation, and habitat restoration efforts.

The latest news from the 2024 State of the Rhino report highlights how invasive plant species continue to threaten habitat quality, reducing the availability of native grasses and other essential food plants. Additionally, stronger monsoon seasons triggered by climate change could force rhinos out of their traditional ranges, exacerbating human-wildlife conflict.

Conservation Highlights

• Trans-boundary Cooperation: Bhutan, India, and Nepal have collaborated to manage cross-border rhino movements, ensuring wide-ranging herds remain protected.
• Reintroduction Efforts: Greater one-horned rhinos have been reintroduced to areas where they were once extirpated, such as parts of Assam.
• Habitat Management: Projects focusing on removing invasive species and protecting floodplains from development have helped secure the rhino’s future.

Javan Rhino

Critically Endangered After Shocking Poaching Discovery

Population and Status

• Estimated population (2024): 76 (though possibly as low as 50)
• Global Range: Confined to Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia
• Threats: Poaching, natural disasters, and limited genetic diversity

Arguably the rarest large mammal on Earth, the Javan rhino once ranged across Southeast Asia. Since Vietnam’s last Javan rhino died in 2011, the species has been confined exclusively to Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP). The protected area was once hailed as a safe haven—until the shocking news broke this year that poachers had killed as many as 26 Javan rhinos between 2019 and 2023.

If those official numbers are accurate, the population could be down to around 50 individuals, underscoring the species’ fragility. Ujung Kulon’s dense jungle habitat makes it difficult to obtain precise counts, and this new poaching revelation has alarmed conservationists worldwide.

Conservation Highlights

• Legal Enforcement: Indonesian authorities have made significant arrests, sentencing one poacher to 12 years in prison—the harshest wildlife sentence in the country’s history.
• Strict Protection Measures: The Fully Protected Area (FPA) system and an Integrated Protected System (IPS) are in development, aiming to close security gaps.
• New Births: Encouragingly, a new female Javan rhino calf was recently documented, indicating that despite the poaching crisis, the species is still reproducing.

Sumatran Rhino

The Enigmatic Survivor

Population and Status

• Estimated population (2024): 34–47 individuals
• Global Range: Four isolated populations in Indonesia (Sumatra and Borneo)
• Threats: Habitat destruction, low genetic diversity, elusive behavior hindering monitoring

The Sumatran rhino is a relic from prehistoric times—a hairy rhino known for surviving in dense jungles that hide them from both predators and scientific observation. Official estimates from the Indonesian government suggest up to 80 might remain, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other organizations propose a figure as low as 34–47 individuals. The truth is uncertain, magnified by the fact that direct sightings or even indirect signs (like footprints) are becoming increasingly rare.

In 2023, a much-needed positive development occurred: two Sumatran rhino calves were born at the Way Kambas National Park Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary. This success is a testament to ongoing breeding efforts, which aim to create a robust “insurance” population. While no poaching incidents have been confirmed for over a decade, there is still a risk that undiscovered poaching could be chipping away at these rhinos.

Conservation Highlights

• Breeding Programs: The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, which has produced five calves in total, continues to pioneer captive breeding.
• Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART): Indonesian authorities are implementing advanced fertility techniques, hoping to boost birth rates.
• Habitat Protection: Given their elusive nature, protecting large tracts of tropical forest remains paramount to safeguarding any remaining wild individuals.

Securing a Future for All Rhinos

Rhinos are, without a doubt, among the most critically endangered animals on the planet in 2025. Each of the five species described here faces its own unique challenges—whether it’s the rampant poaching afflicting white and black rhinos in Africa or the small population size and fragile habitats of Asia’s Javan and Sumatran rhinos. The greater one-horned rhino stands as a beacon of hope, proving that coordinated conservation efforts can indeed reverse catastrophic declines.

Yet, the lessons learned from these successes must be applied globally, across all rhino species. Poaching syndicates evolve quickly, and any perceived sanctuary can be penetrated if anti-corruption and on-the-ground enforcement are not consistent and well-funded. Meanwhile, habitat protection and restoration continue to be essential, particularly in Asia, where invasive plant species and climate change threaten rhinos’ food sources.

The 2024 State of the Rhino report underscores the simple truth that saving a species as large and wide-ranging as the rhino demands collaboration: governments, NGOs, local communities, private landowners, and everyday citizens must all play a part. It also demands continued innovation—whether through technological tools like drones and AI-driven cameras or scientific breakthroughs in reproductive technology.

Ultimately, protecting the world’s rhinos is not merely about safeguarding a single species; it is about preserving the intricate ecosystems in which they play a vital role, supporting the livelihoods of local communities, and honoring the deep cultural and historical significance they hold in numerous societies. If humanity can rally around these magnificent animals, bringing them back from the brink of extinction, we send a powerful message: that we can reverse even our most harmful impacts on the natural world.

A future in which rhinos roam freely, their populations stable and expanding, is within our grasp—provided we act decisively and with unwavering commitment. If we succeed, it won’t just be a victory for conservationists; it will be a victory for all of us who share this planet, benefiting the wealth of biodiversity upon which we all depend.

Source: 2024 State of the Rhino report

The critically endangered Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus), found only on the tiny Sombrero Island in the Caribbean, has experienced a remarkable population increase of 1,500% following restoration efforts. In 2018, fewer than 100 individuals remained, but a survey revealed over 1,600 lizards now thrive on the island.

This conservation success is credited to efforts by Fauna & Flora, Anguilla National Trust, and Re:wild, which began restoring the island in 2018. A key initiative was the eradication of invasive mice in 2021. These mice, likely introduced by humans, devastated the ecosystem by consuming seeds, insects, and seabirds, destroying native vegetation, and preying on lizard eggs and young. By removing the mice and implementing a biosecurity plan with regular monitoring, researchers ensured the island remained mouse-free. AI-enabled remote surveillance cameras are also being developed to detect invasive species.

Sombrero Island, home to unique species and large seabird colonies, faces ongoing challenges from climate change. Hurricanes and storm surges have stripped the island of much of its soil cover, slowing the recovery of native vegetation critical for the lizards’ survival. While sparse vegetation now provides some food and shelter, the lack of tree cover leaves the ecosystem vulnerable to severe weather events.

Despite these hurdles, conservationists are optimistic. Jenny Daltry of Fauna & Flora emphasized that the lizards’ improved habitat gives them a better chance of surviving future storms. She also underscored the urgency of aligning restoration efforts with the pace of climate change. The success on Sombrero Island highlights the importance of proactive measures to prevent species extinction.

Read more about this in Flaura and Fauna’s article Near-extinct Caribbean reptile makes epic comeback published on December 19, 2024.

Photos by Nikolay A. Poyarkov

Cao Bang Crocodile Newt (Tylototriton Koliaensis)

A new crocodile newt species was discovered in the Viet Bac Mountain Range, northern Vietnam. Previously confused with other species like T. asperrimus and T. ziegleri, it was identified through detailed genetic and physical analyses. Key differences include body shape, skin texture, orange markings, and limb size.

Genetic testing confirms it as a close relative of T. ziegleri, but the two species are geographically separated by the Gam River Valley. The new species is found in evergreen forests at elevations of 1,000–1,400 m in Cao Bang Province, Vietnam, and possibly Guangxi, China.

The species is endangered due to its limited range and ongoing habitat loss caused by deforestation and human activity. This discovery highlights the importance of protecting small, isolated habitats that are home to unique, undiscovered species. It also demonstrates the role of advanced tools like genomic sequencing in wildlife conservation, helping scientists identify and protect cryptic amphibian species before they disappear.

Multiple lines of evidence for a new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Salamandridae) from northern Vietnam

The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is the world’s most critically endangered tiger. Also known as Chinese, Amoy or Xiamen Tiger, the South China tiger subspecies is China’s only endemic tiger species. Historically roaming throughout southern China, estimates placed their numbers between 20,000 and 40,000 around 1900 and down to just 4,000 by the early 1950s.

Today there are no South China tigers left in the wild. The last sighting occurred in the 1990s. Many consider this critically endangered subspecies to be functionally extinct, but innovative conservation efforts to save these tigers from the brink of extinction are currently underway.

Unique evolutionary history

Scientists previously debated over whether modern tigers constitute two, five or six different subspecies. But a genome sequencing in 2018 of 32 specimens has led scientists to believe there are six different extant subspecies. Using statistical analysis comprised of 1.8 million DNA variants across the specimen tiger’s genomes confirmed the breakdown into six distinct subspecies: Malayan, Sumatran, Indochinese, Bengal, Amur (Siberian) and South China tigers.

Three other subspecies, first described in the 1930s, have already been lost to extinction: Caspian, Javan and Bali tigers.

It is believed that the South China tiger split and evolved from the oldest lineage of tigers, possibly making the South China tiger the original tiger from which all other current tiger subspecies evolved.

Poaching, habitat loss and traditional Chinese medicine

Tigers once held a mystical place in ancient Chinese culture. Western cultural influence in the late 19th and early 20th century helped change indigenous views of nature and the symbolic meaning of wild animals.

Western influence into China was underwritten by profits from the opium trade. The Chinese government’s resistance to the drug trade led to the Opium War (1839 - 1842), which China lost and as a result had to increase a number of treaty ports where the British could trade and live.

This led to extraterritorial rights to foreigners and an increase in Western missionaries and scientists through China’s backcountry, including Harry Caldwell, an American hunter and Methodist missionary from Tennessee.

Caldwell described his experiences in an autobiography as wanting to change local perceptions of wildlife, including ‘superstitions’ he vowed to destroy through hunting and preaching the gospel.

Caldwell saw tiger hunting as a “means for advancing the knowledge of the Christian God in the heart of Asia” and sought to refute the local belief of ‘spirit cats’ protected by local deities.

He noted that religious-based prohibitions against killing tigers were stronger than any possible game laws protecting wildlife would have been. Caldwell and other foreigners in Southern China employed locals as hunter guides and specimen collectors.

Caldwell went on to kill 48 South China tigers, which earned him the nickname “The Great Tiger Hunter.”

Around 1900, a shift in values and technology as well as a new market for wildlife parts and specimens were starting to form. This began the change in local perceptions of wild animals from supernatural beings to objects for scientific investigation, from a source of sacred medicine sold in local and regional markets to commercial commodities traded internationally.

As the Chinese Communist Party attained power after 1949, Mao Zedong’s ‘war on nature’ created new definitions of natural resources and led to a revolution in nature exploitation. Wildlife became a commodity to be exploited to serve the economic needs of the people.

Finally, “pest” killing campaigns in the 1980s eradicated about 3,000 tigers from their natural habitat. Rapid human population growth forced tigers and humans to live and hunt around each other, resulting in tigers being killed after violent encounters with people.

These killings supplied the demand for tiger parts used in traditional Chinese medicine at a time when China’s economic boom enabled affluent citizens to spend lavishly on expensive animal products. Adult tigers yield about 24 pounds of bones, which when crushed could sell for about $500 a gram.

Crushed tiger bone was often made into soup and sold to treat ailments like arthritis or into wine and sold as an aphrodisiac. Forelimbs fetched as much as $500 per pound. During this time Chinese tigers were being killed at the rate of about one per day.

The Wold Wildlife Fund estimated the majority of the $6 billion in illegal wildlife trade business went to tiger products like skin and bones.

The use of endangered tiger products in medicine is still seen as a symbol of high status and wealth. Some remedies that list tiger parts as an ingredient are so expensive, they often contain only trace elements. Yet even this is enough to promote the continued slaughter of tigers.

Conservation and rewilding efforts

In 1993, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China issued a ban on the trade of tiger bones. All domestic uses and bone trade were prohibited and tiger products were destroyed, including those meant to be used for traditional medicine.

In 1985, The Meihua Mountains Nature Reserve located in Fujian Province was established as a nature reserve for forests and wild animals, including the South China tiger. Around 51 South China tigers have been successfully bred in the reserve since the South China Tiger Breeding Research Institute was established in 1998.

Rewilding organizations like Save China Tigers work to introduce the South China tigers back into the wild. Wildlife conservationist Li Quan and her then-husband Stuart Bray, founded the Save China Tigers program in 2000 to raise awareness about the Chinese tiger's plight and protect it through public education, conservation models, and fundraising efforts.

In 2002, Save China Tigers partnered with the Chinese State Forestry Administration to establish The Laohu Valley Reserve, a private 140-square mile preservation reserve in South Africa built out of 17 retired sheep farms. Its chief goal is to teach captive-born South China tigers how to survive in the wild in a conservation process known as rewilding.

The Laohu Valley Reserve was once home to about 20 South China tigers, nearly 10% of the world’s population. It is unclear how many Chinese tigers currently reside there today.

The Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration plans to have 75% of its wild animals and 80% of its wild plants on land under the national key protection system by 2025.

Genetic biodiversity challenges

Despite the coordinated breeding program in China, conservationists face many challenges to save the South China tiger.

The lack of genetic biodiversity is the biggest challenge facing conservation efforts today. All South China tigers in captivity are descendants from just six individuals caught in the wild in the 1950s. This lack of genetic diversity results in high risk of genetic diseases. Cubs have been born with strabismus, facial deformities and suffer shortened life spans.

A study published in the Journal of Heredity in 2019 looked at 92 captive South China Tigers across 14 zoos in China. Of those, 18 were found to have genetic introgression from Bengal, Indochinese or Amur tigers. The study’s authors encouraged zoos to exclude these individuals from future breeding efforts.

Compounding conservation efforts is the difficulty in rewilding tigers bred in captivity for generations who need to be taught how to use their natural instincts to hunt.

Chinese zoos that loaned tiger cubs to Save China Tigers years ago face pressure to bring them back to China. Save China Tigers has also been mired in controversy. Li Quan accused Stuart Bray of misappropriating charitable funds in 2013.

The couple suffered a bitter and public divorce in 2014 with Stuart being acquitted of all charges and Li moving on to establish her own charity, China Tiger Revival.

Where to visit South China Tigers

There are around 200 South China Tigers left in the world, all in captivity. Most South China Tigers are predominantly in zoos throughout China, including:

Wangcheng Park Zoo - Housing the largest population of South China Tigers with 38 in total, this zoo is a successful breeding facility where two male cubs were born on October 3, 2020 through artificial breeding. The Wangcheng Park zoo is located in Luoyang City, in central China’s Henan Province.

Shanghai Zoo - The Shanghai Zoo has bred over 100 South China Tigers since 1958.

Suzhou South China Tiger Breeding Base - Located in east China’s Jiangsu Province and surrounded by mountains and jungles, it had about 14 South China tigers as of 2019.

Guangzhou Zoo - One of the three largest city zoos in China.

Changsha Ecological Zoo - The first artificially-bred South China tiger cub was born on January 20, 2022.

Meihuashan Institute of South China Tiger Breeding - Established in 1988, the number of South China tigers has grown from 3 to 39.

Other zoos in China where captive South China tigers reside include:

• Chongqing Zoo
• Chengdu Zoo
• Fuzhou Zoo
• Jiujiang Zoo
• Zhongshan Park Zoo
• Nanchang Zoo
• Safari Park Guiyang
• Safari Park Shenzhen

How you can help

Tax deductible monetary donations to wildlife conservation organizations are a straight forward way to help. Educating others and generally raising awareness about the plight of the tigers is the easiest thing anyone can do.

In addition:

1. Avoid anything with Palm oil. It is found in many products and most is sourced unsustainably. Palm oil production is responsible for continued deforestation and ongoing habitat loss to tigers and other threatened wildlife. If you must buy a product with palm oil, make sure it contains the RSPO logo to ensure it was sustainably sourced.
2. Fight climate change. Reducing your carbon footprint may seem like an ineffective drop in a giant bucket but collective, personal sacrifices add up.
3. Visit only AZA accredited zoos. Avoid tiger petting facilities, which are often involved in the illegal wildlife trade.

Sources

1. Genome-wide evolutionary analysis of natural history and adaptation in the world’s tigers
2. Sorting out the genetic background of the last surviving South China Tigers
3. The China action plan for saving the South China Tiger
4. Tiger parts trade: Chinese medicine poaching and farms
5. Living with Tigers: How to manage the coexistence for the benefit of tigers and people
6. Planning tiger recovery: Understanding infraspecific variation for effective conservation
7. King of the Hundred Beasts: a Long View of Tigers in Southern China
8. Manly Civilization in China: Harry R. Caldwell, the ‘Blue Tiger’, and the American Museum of Natural History
9. South China tiger rescue efforts too little, too late
10. Trade in Tiger Parts

A critically endangered subpopulation of killer whales (Orcinus orca) from the Strait of Gibraltar is attacking boats and yachts crossing the Iberian Peninsula. In at least three documented cases, the boats were sunk. Nobody knows exactly why but here are some of the most interesting explanations.

1. Past trauma

Alfredo Lopez Fernandez, a researcher from Atlantic Orca Working Group, believes the pod’s matriarch, a whale they call White Gladis, was traumatized by something before the attacks of 2020.

An accidental collision with a rudder would explain why she attacks rudders. Researchers believe her violent behavior is being imitated rather than learned behavior from the juvenile whales attacking boats by targeting their rudder.

2. Food competition

The Iberian orcas associate boats with competition and food. They compete with local fishermen for Atlantic bluefin tuna, their main source of food.

They do so by actively hunting tuna until exhaustion or through longline depredation, which is when they take the fish off the fishing lines for an easy snack. There are records of whales wounded from commercial fishing lines, and many accounts of fishermen attacking orcas with harpoons.

3. Playful behavior

Dr. Deborah Giles, an orca researcher, thinks this behavior is playful in nature. Of the 15 whales observed ramming into vessels, 13 of them were young juveniles. When boats have been disabled and people are taken to safety, the whales leave. They don’t pursue or interact with the smaller vessels carrying people.

4. Temporary fad

Dr Luke Rendell, marine mammal researcher at the University of St Andrews, believes it is a temporary fad spread through social learning. He likens it to accounts of orcas mimicking sea lions, or captive orcas learning to regurgitate fish to use as bait for seagulls.

5. Injured orca calf

Fisherman Antonio Rodriguez thinks a sailor may have accidentally injured an orca calf and that’s why the whales are attacking the boats. Is life imitating art? The 1977 film Orca depicted a killer whale exacting revenge on a fisherman who killed his mate and unborn calf.

One of the rarest turtles in the world is now functionally extinct. The last known female Yangtze Giant Softshell River turtle, aka Rafetus swinhoei, aka Hoan Kiem turtle, has died, conservationist Forest Galante announced on Instagram.

The 205-lb turtle was found floating motionless by locals and conservationists in Dong Mo Lake in late April, according to Vietnamese state media. An autopsy to identify the cause of death is underway.

These giant turtles were once abundant in the Yangtze River, but due to habitat loss, pollution, overfishing, and illegal poaching, their numbers have drastically declined over the past century. Only 2 living males remain. One is in captivity in China’s Suzhou Zoo and the other in the wild in Hanoi’s Xuân Khanh Lake.

Until last month, there was still hope that the female could be bred with one of the remaining males and perhaps save the species. “It was a large female that obviously has great reproductive capacity. She could have potentially laid a hundred eggs or more a year” Tim McCormack, director of Asian Turtle Program, told Time Magazine.

McCormack remains hopeful that there may be another female Rafetus swinhoei somewhere out there in Dong Mo Lake. If there isn’t, conservation efforts to save the species from extinction will be unsuccessful, as one of the two remaining males appears to be impotent.

Barring a miracle find in the Yangtze or Hanoi rivers, the future of the species now depends on de-extinction organizations like Colossal Biosciences and San Diego’s Frozen Zoo, which use molecular genetics to bring animals back from extinction. Tissues samples from the recently diseased turtle have been collected in the hopes that the Giant Yangtze Softshell turtle may one day survive in the wild.

The United Nations held its Biodiversity Conference last month in Montreal, Canada. 188 representatives from the 196 states that signed on to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1993 were in attendance. As this was the 15th time they met, the Conference of the Parties was known as COP15.

Also present were the Vatican and the United States, the latter of which failed to ratify the CBD in 1992 due to Republican opposition in the Senate.

The US is one of four UN members to not sign onto the treaty. The others being Andorra, South Sudan, and the Holy See (the Vatican).

Why is it important?

At COP15, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with a vision of “living in harmony with nature,” where by 2050 “biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”

The Global Biodiversity Framework contains four long-term goals for 2050 and 23 specific targets for 2030, including:

By 2030…

• 30x30: Restore 30% of degraded global ecosystems on land and sea

• Conserve and manage 30% of areas

• Reduce risk from pesticides by at least 50%

• Reduce nutrients lost to the environment by at least 50%

• Reduce pollution risks and negative impacts of pollution from all sources to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity or ecosystem functions

• Reduce global consumption footprint through reducing overconsumption and waste generation

• Allocate $30 billion from developed to developing countries

• Reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive species by at least 50%

• Ensure that the use and trade of wild species is safe, legal, and sustainable

• Reduce by $500 billion annual harmful government subsidies

By 2050…

• Stop the extinction of known species, and reduce the extinction risk and rate for all species tenfold

• Restore and enhance resiliency of all ecosystems

• Share funding and non-monetary benefits from utilization of genetic resources with indigenous and local communities

Scientists agree that decisions made at COP15 may be our last chance to curb the loss of biodiversity on earth.

Will this work?

Doubtful. More achievable goals were previously unsuccessful.

In 2002, the parties to the CBD agreed “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss”. They did not.

In 2010, they came up with 20 Biodiversity Targets for 2020, none of which were fully met. By 2018, they agreed to develop new targets under a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which was just adopted at COP15.

Despite ambitious targets, biodiversity isn’t as sexy as climate change. There were no celebrities in attendance at COP15 and it didn’t get nearly as much media coverage as COP27, the UN’s climate change conference.

There are many reasons why biodiversity is in peril. Climate change gets all the headlines but all the problems are connected. The human population continues to grow, which continues to drive deforestation and overconsumption, particularly in the developed world.

Another challenge to biodiversity is our own diet. Too many of us eat beef. Livestock require large amounts of land on which to graze and grow crops for feed, resulting in more deforestation, not to mention the damage methane creates to climate change.

The $500 billion reduction in harmful government subsidies by 2030 could target agricultural subsidies and fishing fleets but that still falls short of the $1.8 trillion subsidies that are currently killing the planet.

In any event, the US was not a signatory to CBD, and is therefore under no obligation to meet any of those targets.

Unfortunately, unlike climate change, which is reversible, albeit incredibly difficult, extinctions are permanent. COP15 was a historic gathering to address biodiversity loss. But it wasn’t enough and it is unlikely to solve the problem as long as the US, the world’s largest economy, continues to sit on the sidelines.

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